Lindley teams up with Domino's to develop sports stadia pizza sales

Lindley Venue Catering, the specialist sports catering division of The Lindley Group, has signed a ground–breaking exclusive deal with Domino’s Pizza Group, the market leader in the UK pizza delivery market, to establish the Domino’s Pizza brand in sports stadia and other large-scale arena style venues in the UK.

The move is the latest development in Lindley Venue Catering’s long-term strategy to bring quality retail brands to public concourses at sports venues, and opens up a new retail sector for Domino’s Pizza as the company continues the fast-track expansion of its franchise estate in the UK.

Leicester Tigers’ Welford Road ground is the first UK stadium to benefit from selling the range of bespoke individual seven inch Domino’s pizzas with a choice of three toppings created specifically by Domino’s and Lindley Venue Catering for hand-held eating in a match-day environment.

In addition to the Domino’s branded kiosk and a booth located on the public concourse alongside Lindley Venue Catering’s own award-winning branded food kiosks*, the Domino’s pizzas are also being hawked US-style around the concourse and the stadium arena.

Following the instant success of the initiative – in the first four weeks Domino’s has generated an ten-fold increase in pizza sales – Lindley Venue Catering is now planning to extend availability of Domino’s pizzas to its client base of 50-plus football and rugby stadia and other large venues.

Jonathan Davies, The Lindley Group’s Sales & Marketing Director, says: “Our aim is to enhance the match-day experience by providing quality, freshly-prepared food in a fast-serve environment and part of this initiative is looking at bringing highly respected high street food retailers into sports stadia.

“We decided to team up with Domino’s because it’s the leading brand in the take home pizza market and we wanted a dynamic and ambitious partner who we could work with to tailor the offering to suit a sports stadia and large venue environment. We also want to offer fans pizzas which use fresh ingredients and are made and cooked to order – rather than reheating a frozen or chilled product – and the arrangement with Domino’s enables us to do this.

“We’re absolutely delighted with the significant sales uplifts following the introduction of the Domino’s pizzas at the Welford Road ground and we are already extending availability to other sports stadia in our portfolio.”

Kerri Saunders, Operations Director at Domino’s Pizza, adds: “We are continually seeking to expand our UK operation and our business plan includes looking at opportunities in other leisure sectors as well as developing Domino’s presence on the high street.

“Domino’s pizzas sell well in sports stadia in Australia, so this was an avenue we wanted to explore in the UK. What impressed us about Lindley Venue Catering is their commitment to raising the bar in terms of improving the quality of food served at sports stadia, and their focus on using fresh ingredients and preparing food on site is a natural fit with the way we operate.

“Partnering with Lindley provides a perfect opportunity to extend Domino’s footprint into UK sports stadia as Lindley is a well-established caterer in this field. We have benefited from their expertise and insights and together created a seven inch pizza which is more practical and easier to eat for match-goers.”

Lindley broke new ground in 2007 with the establishment of the first Starbucks store to be located in a European football stadium, and last season the caterer rolled out its own range of branded retail kiosks* which include Frank’s Original New York Streetdogs®, The Pie Factory®, FGB – Flamin’ Good Burger®, Henry’s Chicken® and bespoke Deli concepts tailored to each venue.